Tag: screen readers
There are 25 posts tagged screen readers (this is page 2 of 3).
YouTube is used for entertainment, news, and education these days. However simply clicking or tabbing your way through you tube is slow and inefficient. Today I hope to help you to use YouTube better via some powerful keyboard shortcuts!
Remember: some of these keyboard shortcuts will only work when…
What is This?
This is the fourth in a series that explains how to use Mastodon if you are a screen reader user. It is an alternative form of documentation to the existing Mastodon documentation. It is not intended to replace the documentation for Mastodon or your screen reader. The content in this chapter is fairly advanced, so you should go back and read the first three chapters before reading this one.
The Road so Far…
- Chapter one gave an introduction to the series and explained the structure of the series.
- Chapter Two explained what Mastodon was, what an instance was, and how to join an instance.
- Chapter Three guided you through the process of creating your profile, and concluded with your first post, “Hello world.”
What is Covered in This chapter?
This chapter gives details about working with all of the elements in the post box. Each element will have an explanation of what it does, as well as steps for using it with your screen reader.
Terms in This Chapter (in order of discussion)
- Toot
- Emoji.
- Media.
- Alt text.
- Pole.
- Status privacy.
- Content warning.
- Follow.
- Remote follow.
More on Posts
The last chapter concluded with your first post, “hello World.” At the time, I listed for you the elements in the compose box, but wanted you to ignore them, the ultimate goal being to do a basic toot. It’s now time to take a look at all the things you can do with toots. If you haven’t already done so, log into your instance, and navigate to the compose box with your screen readers jump command for edit boxes, or with the shortcut key Alt+N. Make sure you tell your screen reader to ignore jump commands for the next few sections. Move to each element with the Tab and Shift+Tab commands.
Emoji
Many operating systems give users access to emoji by default. If you can’t find the emoji you want, you can insert one through Mastodon by doing the following.
- Tab until you hear “Insert emoji”.
- Press enter to expand the dropdown. Your focus will be moved to the searchbox.
- If you’re looking for something specific, type it into the searchbox. Use your up and down arrows to navigate results, and press enter on the one you want. You may need to let your screen reader know to go beyond the searchbox.
- If you want to just browse, skip the searchbox and use your arrows to browse. Press Enter when you find something you like.
- Once you choose an emoji, you should return to compose box. If not, navigate there. Turn off jump commands.
Media
You can add several types of media to your toot. This includes audio, video and pictures. You can upload one video or four pictures. To insert media:
- Tab until you hear, “Insert media,” followed by a list of filetypes Mastodon accepts.
- Press Enter. You will be taken to a browse dialog to select files for upload.
- Select your file, and press enter to insert it.
- If you uploaded a picture or pictures:
- You have the ability to add alt text, a description of the photo for screen reader users.
- Tab until you get to the edit box labeled “Alt Text”.
- Type your description into the field, then navigate back to the main compose box.
Pole
You can add a pole to toots, meaning you can ask users a question, and have them vote. To add a pole:
- From the compose box, type your question. For example, Do you think dragons exist?
- Tab until you hear “Add a pole”, and press Enter.
- Your focus will land on “Remove Pole”. You get two choices that appear as edit boxes by default. Shift+Tab twice to get to the first choice.
- Add your choices. For example, yes, no, maybe. If you need more than two choices, use the “Add Choice” button.
- Tab to the duration dropdown for the pole. The default is one day. Activate the dropdown to change this.
Status Privacy
You can adjust the status privacy of your toots. There are four options. To adjust privacy:
- From the compose box, Tab until you hear “Adjust Status Privacy”, and press Enter.
- Use your up and down arrows to move through options:
- Public: Posts to public timelines. More on timelines in Chapter Five.
- Unlisted: Does not post to public timelines, just the home timeline for your instance.
- Followers Only: Only your followers will see your toot.
- Direct: Only lets mentioned users see your toot. More on mentioning users in Chapter Five.
- Press enter to make your choice.
Content Warnings
Content warnings are one of the most popular features of Mastodon. How you use them will depend on what your instance’s code of conduct says needs a CW, what you personally feel needs a CW, and how you understand the concept of its function. A content warning is text that goes over the content of your toot, and hides it from people who may not wish to see this type of content.
It was intended to give users the choice of whether or not they wish to see content others may find offensive. You can also use it like a subject line in an email, an appropriate comparison, since Mastodon usernames look like email addresses. Here are some popular content warnings:
- Sexual content, nudity, etc.
- Mental health.
- Food.
- Gross.
- Body image, body harm, body horror, etc.
- Gender, gender dysphoria, gender identity, etc.
- Mentions self-harm, thoughts of self-harm, etc.
To insert a content warning:
- From the compose box, Tab until you hear, “Text is not hidden”, and press Enter.
- Your focus will land on the edit box where you can type your warning.
- Type your warning, then tab to the main compose box.
Once You’ve Tricked Out Your Toot
Once your toot has all the features it needs added on, press CTRL+Enter to send. Alternatively, Tab until you hear “Toot”, and press Enter.
Following other Users
Now that you understand how to get your content out to the Fedeverse, it’s time to find other people to follow. This means that their content displays in your timeline, and you can interact with it. We’ll be talking about timelines and interacting in Chapter Five, but here are the things you can do:
- Reply to a toot.
- Boost a toot.
- Favorite a toot.
- View a user’s profile.
There are things you can do to interact with users, too, but we’ll save that for the next chapter.
How to Follow
There are many ways to follow a user, but most of them rely on your ability to interact with timelines. Since we haven’t discussed how to do that just yet, we’ll be using the searchbox on the home page of your instance that appears after you log in. Once Chapter Five comes out, you should consider reading Chapters Three, Four, and Five together to get a better understanding of how all of these things work together.
Using the Searchbox
There are two ways to move focus to the searchbox. The first one is to use your screen reader’s jump command to get to the searchbox, and then turn off jump commands to let you type in it. The second is to turn jump commands off, then press S to bring focus to the searchbox. Once you’re there type in your terms, then Tab to “Search” and press Enter.
Search results
Results are grouped by people, toots, and hashtags, and each section is indicated using a level five heading. Once you get to the desired section, use standard navigation to see what your search turned up.
Following SomeOne Using the Searchbox
Here are the steps for following people using the searchbox.
- Navigate to the searchbox.
- Type your search terms, and activate the search button.
- Navigate to the “People” section.
- Next to the person’s display name and username, find and click the “Follow” button.
Following Me Using the Searchbox
- Navigate to the searchbox.
- Type ChangelingRandy into the box, and activate the “search” button.
- Navigate to the “People” section.
- Click the “Follow” button next to my display name and username. The display name is Changeling Mx, and the full username is ChangelingRandy@mastodon.social.
Remote Following
Remote following is following Mastodon user that is not on your instance. The only thing that is different is the following process. Otherwise, your interactions are exactly the same. The exception is if your instance’s admin decides to block that person’s instance, or vice versa.
Remote following works like this. I live in one house, my Mastodon instance. Ashley lives in another house, her Mastodon instance. We aren’t part of the same house, but we are part of the same community. We can interact with each other from our own houses. The exception to this is if one of the landlords decides that people from the other house aren’t their kind of people and banishes them.
How to Remote Follow
Let’s assume you’ve done the search and found someone on another instance. Now:
- Click the “Follow” button. Depending on the version of Mastodon your instance runs, you may need to do nothing else.
- If this is not the case, you will be taken to another page where you can remote follow.
- On that page find the edit box that asks your username and instance that you want to follow from. Write it like ChangelingRandy@mastodon.social.
- Tab to and activate the “Follow” button.
Coming Up
In Chapter five, we’ll be talking about how to use timelines and interact with posts. In the meantime, go follow some people so your timelines have content.
What is This?
This is the third in a series of posts that describes how to use Mastodon if you are a screen reader user. It is an alternative form of documentation, but is not intended to replace the originaldocumentation for Mastodon or your screen reader. If you have just found this post, I strongly suggest you go back and read the first two chapters, links to which are in the next section.
The Road So Far…
- Chapter One gave an introduction to the series, explained my reasons for writing it, and suggested things a person might need before joining an instance.
- Chapter Two took a closer look at what Mastodon actually is, gave details about how to join instances, and briefly described the signup process.
If you haven’t done these things, now is your chance to go back and read these chapters. Otherwise, move on to the next section.
What is in This Chapter?
This chapter walks you through the process of completing your profile, as well as sending your first post, know as a Toot.
Before We Begin…
Before we begin, I want to talk about keyboard shortcuts. Rather than list all of the keyboard shortcuts for Mastodon, I ‘ve decided to bring them up when they occur in context. For example, when we are talking about sending a new post, those keyboard shortcuts will be listed in the directions. You can find a complete, out of context list here, or under the “Getting Started” section of your home page for your instance.
Similarly, I’m not going to list key commands for every screen reader. This guide assumes that you are mostly familiar with your own screen reader, or that you at least know how to access the documentation. The exception to this is when I need to make an example, or point out a situation where I know a specific screen reader behaves differently than expected.
Full Disclosure
I have not personally tested every screen reader. I know people with other screen readers are quite successful at using this platform, but I’m not aware of every single quirk there is. If you find that something doesn’t behave as described, feel free to leave it in the comments section, or use the contact form on the Contact page to get in touch. I’m even willing to work with you to try and work through any issues you may experience, as I know this is a lot of information.
For the record, I use Chrome with Chromevox on ChromeOS. Your experience may vary depending on browser, screen reader, and instance.
If you plan to primarily use a mobile device, chapter Six (to be published) will talk more about apps for this platform. You will need to consult the app’s documentation to bridge the gap.
Terms in This Chapter (in order of discussion)
- Profile
- Header
- Avatar
- Animated Avatar
- bio
- metadata
- bot account
- profile directory
- verified content
- Toot
Completing Your Profile
Now that you’ve signed up for an instance, it’s time to create your profile. This is what other users will see when they come to your page on the instance. It does not offer as many options as a standard Facebook profile, but it’s also got more customization and flexibility than other microblogging services typically offer.
To edit your profile, do the following:
- Log in to your instance.
- If your screen reader puts your focus on the “Compose new Toot” box, move away from it, and then go to the top of the page.
- Find the link that says “Edit profile”, and click it.
- Use standard navigation to move through and fill out the web form. If you move through the page using the arrows rather than the tab key, you’ll find helpful hints for each piece of content you can include. They will also be described here.
- When finished, click the button that says “Save Changes”.
Profile Elements
All of your profile elements are optional. Some of these you’ve most likely seen before, and some of these will be new. I’ll go through them now.
Display Name
This is where you put your name, or what you like to be called. You can include emojis. It’s worth noting that, unlike Facebook, Mastodon does not require you to use your real name.
Header
A Header is an image that goes at the top of your profile. you can use it to express an interest, hobby, belief system, etc. Note that whatever picture you use will be resized to 1500x500px, and is limited to a size of 2MB.
Avatar
An avatar is a picture, separate from your header, that represents you, the user. The maximum file size is 2MB, and the picture will be resized to 400x400px.
Be Picky About Your Pictures
When choosing both your header and avatar, remember to make sure both pictures keep to the code of conduct for your instance. For more information about instances and codes of conduct, see Chapter Two
Animated Avatar
An animated avatar is an avatar that moves, like the pictures in Harry Potter. Mastodon lets you use these, but keep in mind that many users find animated avatars distracting, and these kinds of avatars can be dangerous for people who are prone to seizures. It seems best to avoid these to me, but that’s just my own experience.
Bio
Your bio is your biography. Not the kind that starts something like, “I was born on a dark and stormy night in the heat of summer,” but a snapshot of the things you’re interested in. If you put a hashtag (#) on these, you can add yourself to the profile directory, which lets others find you by interest. If you don’t want that, don’t hashtag, and uncheck the box to include your profile in the directory. You can also lock your account, so that people have to send you requests to follow you.
Bot Account
A bot account is an automated account. If you’re reading this, you’re not one of them.
Metadata
Metadata is the section of your profile whete you put things that didn’t make it into your bio, but you want people to know about. You can put up to four items here. Each item gets a label, and a place for the content. This is a good spot for links to other profiles.
Verified Content
verified content is a way to verify to users that you own the content your linking to in your metadata. It uses rel=”me” links to do this. Rel=”me” is far beyond the scope of this discussion, but you can check out my H-Card in the sidebar of this page to see them in action.
Suggestions
Here are some suggestions for completing your profile. The best thing to do is to try each thing on to see if it fits you. You can edit your profile as often as you like.
- Be authentic. Mastodon is a big world. You’ll find someone who shares your interests.
- Remember that the bio is only a snapshot. It’s okay if not every detail is there. That’s what posting is for.
- Consider including your pronouns somewhere in your profile. Mastodon has become very popular for GLBTQIA folks, and the result ispeople may be uncomfortable making assumptions based on your name, physical appearance, etc. To make sure everyone has a comfortable experience, provide your pronouns so people will know how to refer to you. It can either go directly in your bio, or be part of the metadata.
Now that your profile is complete and you’ve saved the changes, find the link at the top of the page that says, “Mastodon”. Click it to return to the main page. You’re ready to send your first post.
Posting Your First Toot
A Toot is what Mastodon calls users’ statuses. In this section, we’ll be posting a toot that says, “Hello World.” From the main page of your Mastodon instance, press Alt+N to compose a new toot. Alternatively, use your screen reader’s jump command for edit boxes to get to the compose box. Once you do, use the command that lets your screen reader know you want to enter text.
Elements of the Compose Box
You can use Tab and Shift+Tab to navigate the compose box. We’ll be discussing what each element does in more detail in the next chapter, but here’s what you can expect to find.
- Multi-line edit box.
- Insert Emoji dropdown.
- Add Media button.
- Add a Pole button.
- Adjust Status Privacy dropdown.
- “Text is not Hidden” dropdown. This is where you can set a content warning.
- Toot button.
Compose Your “Hello World” Toot: Method One
- Navigate to the compose box with Alt+N, or with the jump command for edit boxes specific to your screen reader.
- Make sure your screen reader is set to enter text into the box. Common names for this are Forms mode (JAWS), Focus Mode (NVDA), etc.
- Type “hello World.” into the box without the quotes.
- Tab until you hear “Toot”, and activate that button.
Composing Your “Hello World” Toot: method Two
- Navigate to the compose box with Alt+N, or with the jump command for edit boxes specific to your screen reader.
- Make sure your screen reader is set to enter text into the box. Common names for this are Forms mode (JAWS), Focus Mode (NVDA), etc.
- Type “hello World.” into the box without the quotes.
- Press CTRL+Enter to send the Toot.
Coming Up
In Chapter Four, we’ll be taking a more detailed look at working with posts, as well as finding people to follow. In the meantime, this is a good time to sit back and relax. It’s been a long road so far.